Before admission into therapeutic/supplementary feeding programs, it is common practice to retake anthropometric measurements for every child referred by the community and/or primary health care settings. This is called a two-stage process. This ensures more control by the treatment-facility but may lead to children being referred but not admitted.

Some programs are introducing the one-stage process, in which referral from community/primary health care settings entitle a child to admission without retaking anthropometric measurements. This enables the treatment-facility to function more efficiently by reducing delays and overcrowding but may have implications for the size of the program (particularly for supplementary feeding).

Before admission into therapeutic/supplementary feeding programs, it is common practice to take all the following anthropometric measurements: